Cynicism is the most widespread disease in our time. Some
"politicians" can be believed; one knows by the history.

You can not tell someone's history in their own lifetime. This is
especially true if the person is powerful, popular or unpopular because
there is too much spin on the facts. I am a history buff and as you dig
deeper into the actual history and not the popular myths, those
politicians often turn out to be the most corrupt ones. But this is not
a political forum, so lets stick to the topic.

But apparently Mr. Wasti *is* in the business of "helping" customers
reject alternatives.

I tell my customers what I am able to do for them. If they choose to go
down other paths, they are on their own. In buying many many things,
software, computers, electronics, cars, etc. knowing that you can turn
to someone you know and trust for help and assistance is a major factor.

I wonder, does Mr. Wasti also "support" them by informing them about
the user group, which can generally provide better support, not only
than any individual, but also than Altium itself, and which is 24/7
and free.

As stated above, I offer certain services. If you use the same software
that I use, I will help you learn it and get better at using it. If you
want to use something else, you are on your own. As an example, I
bought a Tivo system over the summer. In the last 6 months I have
learned many quirks about it and figured out how to use it most
effectively. A friend is considering buying a Tivo system. If he buys
the same model as I have, I will be able to teach him all these things
in 15 minutes that it took me months of fooling around to learn.
Incidentally, none of this could be gleaned from a manual or by calling
customer support.

First of all, Mr. Wasti should know, if he considers himself
knowledgeable enough to advise his clients, that Protel 99SE is still
for sale. It's called the "Migration Pack," and it includes the right
to upgrade to DXP any time the purchaser chooses. It is also the same
prices as was 99SE before the DXP release, which is also the same
price as DXP.

At my recommendation a friend bought DXP at the same time as I bought
the upgrade and told clients that I intended to migrate to DXP and would
support them when I made that move. After I played with DXP and
realized what a lemon it was I decided not to migrate. After seeing the
garbage he had received, my friend went back to Protel and asked them if
he could get 99SE and at that time (this past summer) they said that
that was not an option. It may have been a case that that was not an
option for a sucker who had already bought DXP, but it was an option to
get the money from someone who was too smart to buy DXP.

The mystery to me is why he considers DXP so totally awful that he
would (as it appeared) "crow" at having torpedoed three license sales.

I am merely pointing out that there are consequences for putting out
lemons. By getting me to buy DXP by telling whatever lies it takes,
they are shooting themselves in the foot. They may have gotten one
upgrade sale, but in the process they have acquires someone who, having
used the product, will tell others the truth about it and cost them
sales of full systems. And I am someone who, over the years, has been
responsible for several sales through good recommendations and they did
not even have to pay me a commission.

I'm only beginning, and because must of my own focus is elsewhere
for the time being, I can't claim to be an active user of DXP;

I have a feeling that your attitude may change once you do use it more
and like me, have a free choice between DXP and 99SE for most projects.

I can see, so far, that there is indeed a learning curve, but I can
also see that powerful new features have been added, features that in
some cases provide us with what we have been requesting.

There are indeed powerful new features, but so much of the good stuff
has been "improved" out that I do not have any hope of achieving my
current level of productivity under DXP as it stands.

And any current DXP licensee has been promised Protel 4 without charge.

I will believe it when it actually happens. After the lies I was told
to get me to buy DXP, I will be hard pressed to believe anything coming
from Altium.

This would make sense if the action were not "jumping ship," but
rather simply investigating alternatives. Without having done that --
and not knowing if there is anything better -- "jumping ship" is
little short of suicide, i.e., one is choosing to take one's chances
in the middle of the ocean without relief in sight, the food on board
is that bad....

The problem is not bad food being served by Altium; the problem is that
ship is on fire and sinking fast. After I vetoed DXP, I started an
investigation, but decided to stick with 99SE for the current project to
minimize the risk. The project included one extremely complex board
with a very large component count and a short deadline. I intend to do
an exhaustive search next spring and decide on a CAD package to migrate
to. Protel DXP is not on the list because having used it for 2 minor
boards, I know it well enough to know that it is not worth wasting my
time. Is it possible that I could get conned by some other company and
get stuck with a worse lemon than DXP? Absolutely. My goal is to avoid
that, but I prefer taking a chance with getting something good, rather
than going for a known lemon.

It's ridiculous! Protel is a tool, and it is a tool that does
accomplish the purpose for which it was designed. Even if you argue
that it does it badly, a professional will use the available tools
until he finds something better. Or retire.

That is why I am sticking with 99SE for now, even though my
requirements are starting to exceed the software.

File interchange is easy if you don't mind losing advanced data.

Does your definition of "Advanced" data include things like power
objects? My plan for helping my friend who I had managed to get stuck
with DXP was to do just this. However, in the very first transfer we
lost a few of the power objects and had a few other problems that I do
not remember. This was going from 99SE to DXP. At that point I decided
to support the rest of that board and the next board in DXP. That is
why I can complain about DXP having actually used it, unlike those who
defend it because they own it, even though they have never actually used it.